Listening to the Body provides us with enough insight to heal ourselves according to what we need. I have been interested in holistic Health for many years. I recently trained as a reiki master and teacher and I always believed that we have the potential to heal ourselves. It begins very simply by understanding how mind and body interact as one. If we can understand health problems from the perspective of having an imbalance in energy, it may become easier to understand how the body functions. Our interpretation of the world and how we react emotionally can directly affect the physical body. Mind, body and spirit function as one collective entity influencing health on multiple levels. For example, if we have been working very hard and have not taken adequate rest, we often find ourselves stretching our resources to the extreme. The body can then become ill as a consequence. An examination of the chakra system holds the key to understanding how our health is governed by the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual principles of wellbeing.

As I worked through the first and second degrees of reiki, I spent a lot of time on self-treatments and becoming used to working with energy. After a lot of practice, I could easily be guided intuitively to areas in myself were I needed to apply treatment. I was beginning to respond to my body intuitively and as soon as I did that, my health and my emotional wellbeing began to improve. I was becoming more in touch with myself and I stopped getting colds and flu. I always used to fall prey to illness before I started reiki (especially around Christmas) and now it is a rare occurrence. I started to rest more and I began to take life at a slower pace which was a strange experience for me at the time! I had been so used to rushing around and it was no wonder I was exhausted. An increase of awareness can enable our health to improve. First, we need to allow ourselves to slow down!

It isn't always easy to take things slowly of course. We live more stressful lives today and we have deadlines to meet and things to do. I have often found it is our ability to prioritse matters in importance which can help us to eliminate unnnessary stress. The body can only deal with so much and it is very important to make sure we have not taken on too much (or taken on the wrong things). When stressful situations begin to take their tolle on our health, we have obviously ignored the warning signs. What are they? Insomnia, heart palpitations, hypertension, anxiety, headaches, inability to concentrate, sweating, hot flushes, etc. As soon as these symptoms appear, it is time to address the underlying cause before it is allowed to escalate. Early detection of stress is crucial if we value our health. At this stage, we need to listen. The body is healthy when all aspects work together in harmony. If there is an imbalance of any kind, we need to address it promptly to ensure our health remains as it should!

Copyright Christina McDonald 2009